Kakera: A Piece of our Life
Filmmaker: Momoko Andô
Japan / 2009 / 107 mins / Japanese (with English subtitles)
Opening Weekend Date: 2 April 2010
Cinemas screening the film: ICA and selected regional sites
Haru is a college student who is frustrated by the lack of any real spark between herself and her idle, indifferent boyfriend, who only seems to be interested in her for sex. One day, while brooding over a cappuccino in a cafe, she catches the eye of Riko. Riko joins her, and the two strike up a conversation. They start to discuss life and Riko mentions that she has a job as a medical artist, creating body parts that attempt to emulate the function of those lost through accident and disease. Riko's role is to cure the psychological traumas arising from the patient's physical deficiencies by balancing body and soul.
While Haru might be physically intact, Riko sees in her a certain emotional wanting to which she might provide a cure, and the two begin an all-encompassing relationship that draws Haru away from her dissatisfying routine and into a new and more emotionally fulfilling area of her life.
As the loving relationship develops between the two, their bond is tested by Haru's ex boyfriend, society's view, and the growing pains of adolescents, as the couple experience the pains of discovering themselves and their place in the world. Kakera: A Piece of our Life is a perceptive, well thought out drama, examining love, and desire.
About the Director: Momoko Andô
Born in 1982, Momoko Andô is the daughter of the acclaimed actor-director Eiji Okuda (Shojo & Kaze No Sotogawa) and the sister of rising starlet Sakura Ando (Love Exposure). Having grown up in film based environment, and having been a former student of the Slade School of Fine Art, a career in film was not that surprising. However, Kakera:A Piece of our Life easily displays the nurtured talent and original ideas that Andô has. The film also adds a beautifully crisp cinematography (from Hirokazu Ishii), a powerful & evocative soundtrack, mixed with a directing style that is both sensitive and engrossing, which makes Andô's directorial debut such a beautifully tender surprise.
There will be a special screening and Q&A with the director at the ICA on the 27th March. For more information, click here.